RP December 16th 2019

Good to hear you have that in hand.

Yeah avoid sitting on anything firm for. Week or so. Sitting on my home office chair would bring on a bleed in urine for me as the bladder would be irritated. Talking to a doctor friend he recommended Hard seats as much as possible as lots of swelling and bruising downstairs plus weak blood vessels trying to heal. ‘Deck chair mode’ of the sofa works well :-)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Back home now after seeing the doctor. Who did a urine test. Good news he says I have a water infection so back on the same antibiotics I was on after the biopsies treatment were taken. So hopefully nothing to worry about and eased my concerns although still quite painfull. Especially after changing my white socks.

Some good news after drinking loads of water and waiting an hour and a half. I really put the inconvenience pants through their paces. I am amazed at how much water they hold and believe I have been throughing them away to early.

hello everyone

Amazed how quick every thing has moved along having only had the prostrate biopsies taken on the 17th of November. 2 weeks later the results which were Gleason 3+4 . TNM grades T3a ,0,0. Although I had some reservations, after talking to the consultant I was totally convinced that surgery  was the correct decision .

For 5 days after my biopsy. Due to water retention in my bladder I had to wear a catheter and struggled with pain in the end of my penis and the first 3 days was hell until I changed the bag. Don,t know why but it did make a difference , even though I was always able to pass urine  it did make a difference. The relief when the catheter was removed  was huge and therefore it was sometime before I new something might be  amiss. I eventually I got my GP to send off a urine sample as I was in a lot of pain when peeing and my flow was a less than normal.

        I am currently sitting at home and approaching the last few days on antibiotics. The situation with my passing water and peeing has much improved and believe the antibiotics have done their thing. My only concern is the last couple of days, I have been constipated to point where it has made me feel quite poorly. Fortunately  I have manged to get things moving along with the use of macrogel ,Ispaghula and fibrogel. This makes me feel much better but still not 100%. I am currently thinking that I should be feeling better than I am and worry as I am only a week away from my Radical Prostratectomy .Don,t know why I am contsipated and still have some pain in my prostrate area although not servere. I am wondering if I should be telling someone or should I wait until the antibiotics coarse is completed. I really don,t want to cancel my operation as I am a full time carer for my wife and have arranged family to help out over the Christmas holidays. Any help advice would be appreciated. Best regards Dave. ps sorry about the spelling

Update If I haven,t bored everyone to death by now.

Just received the all clear from my Urine sample. Now clear of infection. So now all systems go for Monday. I still have the issue of my stomach . Mainly gas building up which eventually gives me pain as it travels south . Once I have opened my Bowels, all is fine. I think its slowly improving with the tablets ( Buscopan used for Irritable Bowl Syndrome) I have never taken this before and never had this problem before. Is this something I need to tell the Urology department about  or do I wait until the big day and see if it clears? Just answered my own question and have decided to give the urology a ring and now waiting for the prostate nurse specialist to call me back.

Edited by member 11 Dec 2019 at 15:35  | Reason: Not specified

It's a tough call between drinking enough to keep your stools soft and not drinking so much you're leaking all the time. 

I stopped all alcohol for 6 months from Oct 16 to April 17 as well.  It wasn't as bad as I imagined.

Also I stopped drinking around 7pm every day although I never leaked at night.

At least I don't think I leaked at night but I wore Boots fairly thick pads for 5 months day and night.  In winter they're quite warm as well.

Here's a standard piece I found on a website:

'at first you're dry in bed and deteriorate through the day.  Over time the deterioration slows so you might be dry in the morning but wet in the afternoon and then dry all day, or at least relatively dry.  Most say 3 - 6 months for dry, but not everyone.'

Here's a personal quote, 2017, from my own website which is linked on my profile:

'With my level of stress incontinence I find the best incontinence pads 
are Boots medium super (marked with 5 drops out of 8). 
They cost less than other makes that have less capacity so you might as well use them. 
They are a bit bigger but aren't noticeable and they don't let you down. In winter they're warm as well. 
I've used Medium 4 drops and found I had to change it earlier whereas the 5 drop one's last all day. 
The very small ones are only good for in the house or overnight when I'm dry anyway.

Another trick is to make sure you pull the pad up after going to the loo.  I once didn't and got a damp spot down my leg.

Pad fullness is detected by weight. It can seem dry but if it's heavy it's near full.  You need to wear briefs and not boxers with a pad.

Also don't buy too many at one time.  My continence suddenly seemed a lot better but I've got 30 big pads left and could manage with a very small pad now, early May 2017.  Shame that once every few days there is an unexpected stress leak.'

Edited by member 27 Dec 2019 at 19:22  | Reason: Not specified

I re-read my surgeons tech notes over the days/weeks following surgery. The Prof says evening can be leaky as your body and muscles get tired and tend to relax. He also said to reduce liquids after 7pm. Plus leaking common until the stitches start to break down (week 6) around the anastomosis/rebuilt bladder connection.

ive found kegel pelvic floor exercises help particularly with stress incontinence. I’ve learnt to hold when I cough/sneeze/pass_wind. 

definitely improvement over time.

Incidentally...I found kegels a lot easier to do for a few days learning while laying flat in bed.

Edited by member 27 Dec 2019 at 19:36  | Reason: Not specified

Sainsbury's and Asda sold the Tena mens grade 4 pull-ups that I used for a while during second half of RT and HDR brachytherapy. Often, one or other had a special offer. Finding where they were on the shelves was always an interesting challenge, and one of them listed the item on the receipt as female products (or some such).

They were overkill for me (I never let a bladder full go into one), but security was the main thing I was after - knowing I could pee into them if I had to. I did test one with half a litre of water and was very impressed. It soaked it up instantly, and you couldn't even wring a drop out.

Hi BHP

i noticed a little less but not as much as I expected. One of the first things I checked post op as expected a press stud. Post catheter removal already ‘test drove’ it with the good lady and she said it’s at 70%. Started on tadalafil daily. Prescribed was 5mg to flatten the curve of usually dose. I’m actually taking 2.5mg (snapped in half) a day. From day 5 I got semi erection even though some nerves were taken to increase margin. At the moment things exceed expectations and are penetratively useful. Not like the old days buts it’s still early days. 

I got a prescription for tadalafil but also bought privately as didn’t want to wait over Xmas period. 

TG